It's really hard to see very much because so much of the time you are far away from the camera.
AS you know, I think Squiggy is a super nice horse. She seemed a bit irritated there and kind of holding back in both the trot and the canter. That holding back had her a bit "bunched up" looking, which I think was making it harder for you to have as nice a posting rythm as you usually do (and you do!)

AS for getting her to relax by deepening your seat, do you mean that you took less weight into the stirrup ad put more into your seatbones? If so, then it might actually discourage her from stretching out more.

Sometimes when a green horse gets that kind of bunched up way of going, to help it stretch forward and lift it's back, the rider will ride in a kind of half seat (I am talking dressage here, mind you) and kind of roll themselves more onto their thighs. This takes weight off of the seatbone and puts it more foreward. It might be that it puts the horse more on the forehand, but if you also ask for more push and longer , freeer strides, it is ok for the horse to be a bit more on the forehand to help her open up , reach, relaxe and stretchforward.

She seems to be neck reining rather well. I think you've done just a terrific job.

Remember to look up and forward, helps horse to be focussed forward. Don't limit yourselves to the two or three feet in front of her nose.

I've been battling with the "bunched up" stuff for a while and found out that my other saddle fits better and it did help a lot with the tension at a lope and some at the trot.

As for the rest of it, I figured that it was because I ride soooo forward most of the time, so it was like I was telling her to pick up her pace, and then scrunching her up with everything else, resulting in all kinds of weirdness. That's my explanation for trying a deeper seat.

I have a few new things that I've put on my list of "things to try", so come the day my Physio-therapist clears me to ride, I'll put it all to use to the best of my ability.

Most of my list is just a lot of transitions, basically.

Someone suggested that to help her loping, since she's nice and slow and relaxed through her t -> lope transition and a stride or two after, that I should just go through the transition, let her lope her relaxed strides, and then transition back down to a trot, and repeat.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the The Horse Forum forums, you must first register.

Already have a Horse Forum account?
Members are allowed only one account per person at the Horse Forum, so if you've made an account here in the past you'll need to continue using that account. Please do not create a new account or you may lose access to the Horse Forum. If you need help recovering your existing account, please Contact Us. We'll be glad to help!

New to the Horse Forum?Please choose a username you will be satisfied with using for the duration of your membership at the Horse Forum. We do not change members' usernames upon request because that would make it difficult for everyone to keep track of who is who on the forum. For that reason, please do not incorporate your horse's name into your username so that you are not stuck with a username related to a horse you may no longer have some day, or use any other username you may no longer identify with or care for in the future.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Old Thread Warning

This thread is more than 90 days old. When a thread is this old, it is often better to start a new thread rather than post to it. However, If you feel you have something of value to add to this particular thread, you can do so by checking the box below before submitting your post.I am aware that this is an old thread and I want to revive it rather than starting a new thread.